LobeLog

The Qatar crisis has quickly become one of the Trump administration’s most sensitive dilemmas in the Middle East. Since America’s close Sunni Arab allies—Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—took action against Doha earlier this month, the White House has sent the Qataris mixed messages about Washington’s position on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)’s row. At this juncture, it remains unclear what role the Trump administration will play in Saudi/Emirati efforts to pressure the Qataris into capitulation.

One issue that is ripe for attention is the effect corruption has on military aid programs. Providers of such assistance need to take more care to ensure that their partners are not subverting the purpose of these programs by engaging in corrupt practices.

The Intercept recently revealed Erik Prince’s attempts to sell military services in Libya and other countries in Africa. He has done so even though his newest company, Frontier Services Group (FSG), has repeatedly stated that it only provides non-military, logistics, and aviation services, and if Prince is selling military services he is doing it strictly on his own, without their knowledge or approval.

How could the world’s sole superpower have battled continuously for 15 years, deploying 100,000 of its finest troops, sacrificing the lives of 2,200 of those soldiers, spending more than a trillion dollars on its military operations, lavishing a record hundred billion more on “nation-building” and “reconstruction,” helping raise, fund, equip, and train an army of 350,000 Afghan allies, and still not be able to pacify one of the world’s most impoverished nations?